Nine current and former Traffic Court judges indicted

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | 01/31/2013 | John P. Martin and Craig R. McCoy,

[Kid Shelleen]

Nine current or former Philadelphia Traffic Court judges surrendered today to face corruption charges after a three-year FBI probe into ticket-fixing in the beleaguered court.

A 77-count indictment returned Tuesday but sealed until Thursday, said judges and their assistants routinely shredded documents, used code words and practiced "a well-understood conspiracy of silence" that turned the court into two systems: One where the average citizen paid for their infractions, while the connected saw tickets disappear, costing the Commonwealth an untold amount.

"For years, even beyond the conspiracy charged, there existed a culture of ticket fixing at Traffic Court," the indictment said. "The ticket fixing was pervasive and frequent."

[skinkinthegrass]

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